Robot learns to recognize objects on its own

When all the humans went home for the day, a personal-assistant robot under development in a university lab recently built digital images of a pineapple and a bag of bagels that were inadvertently left on a table — and figured out how it could lift them.

The researchers didn’t even know the objects were in the room.

Instead of being frightened at their robot’s independent streak, the researchers point to the feat as a highlight in their quest to build machines that can fetch items and microwave meals for people who have limited mobility or are, ahem, too busy with other chores.